A Theory of Justice: The Musical!

Political philosopher John Rawls (Alexander Wickens) is having a crisis of confidence. Yet to find a theory which will define his career, he goes on a historic rampage through a time travelling vortex, meeting iconic philosophers of the past, whilst also chasing the approval of his muse, Fairness (Rosalind Isaacs). Classic musical fodder, really.

Except that is isn’t. The show tries hard to depict a potentially dry academic subject with entertaining elements, and in its depiction of Ultilitarians as a Barberhop Quartet, Hobbes and Locke as gang leaders, Rousseau as a sexy-sexist, and Emmanuelle Kant as the ontological fairy-godmother, it succeeds to a degree. It is, however, ultimately dragged down by the fact that watching a man getting to grips with many, many definitions of legal fairness is not gripping enough.

Despite its intentions of injecting fun and energy into philosophical debate, the show is fairly dry, tedious and pompous, with the repetitive score underlining its ultimate emptiness. Each philosopher is dealt with briefly and superficially, with the majority of the musical instead focussing on Rawls moaning his way through 2000 years of thinking. 

Its saving grace is the archetypal villain, Robert Nozick (Luke Rollason), out to beat Rawls to it with help from his sexy Russian mistress Ayn Rand (Clare Joyce). The two tango their way through melodramatic tiffs with flare and bring a necessary relief to the otherwise dialogue-heavy performance. Sadly, it isn't enough to rescue an otherwise dense and confused production.